Numberer for printing wheel

ABSTRACT

A numberer for mounting in a rotary printing wheel having the bridge over which the rubber type bands move provided with guide members that extend a substantial distance laterally of the bridge sides so that the rubber type bands are guided as they approach and leave the bridge to prevent shifting of said bands.

I Umted States Patent 1191 1111 3,774,532 McKay 1 1 Nov. 27, 1973 [54] NUMBERER FOR PRINTING WHEEL 1,143,445 6/1915 Scotford 101/111 I 1,117,007 11/1914 Dowlingn... l0l/1ll [El lnvemor- James McKay 2,123,952 7/1938 Melind 101 111 Assignee: Kiwi Coders Corporation, g 2,832,284 4/1958 Farkas 101/111 Primary ExaminerR0bert E. Pulfrey [22] Filed: Ja 1972 Assistant ExaminerE. M. Coven [211 App] No 217 863 Attorney-I. Irving Silverman et a1.

52 us. 0.. 101/111 [57] ABSTRACT 51 1111.01 B4lj 5/20 A numberer for mounting in a rotary P wheel [58] Field of Search 101 /1 1 1, 72, 73, having the bridge Over which the rubber yp bands 1O1/76 77, 85 87 move provided with guide members that extend a substantial distance laterally of the bridge sides so that 5 R f r Cited the rubber type bands are guided as they approach UNITED STATES PATENTS and leave the bridge to prevent shifting of said bands.

3,276,357 10/1966 McKay 101 111 7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figur s 3,159,101 12/1964 Dziekan 101/111 401,519 4/1889 Scotford 101/105 2,691,936 10/1954 Farkas et a1. ..101/111 X NUMBERER FOR PRINTING WHEEL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention herein relates generally to rotary printing means which mount adjustable printing units at circumferentially spaced locations adjacent the periphery thereof and more particularly relates to improvements in the construction of the adjustable printing units themselves.

Reference may be had to U. S. Pat. Nos. 2,634,676 and 3,276,357 issued to the applicant herein. The basic printing unit which is described in these patents comprises a device known as a numberer. The basic numberer is well-known and has been used quite extensively to print groups of numbers and/or letters on planar surfaces manually. This numberer comprises a metal U-shaped frame having a bridge spanning the free ends of the legs of the frame. A plurality of friction wheels is mounted in the frame upon a shaft that is spaced from and parallel with the bridge. Each friction wheel has a rubber type band carrying letters and/or numerals which passes around the friction wheel and 1 over the bridge. The friction wheels have protruding knurled flanges by means of which the user can rotate the friction wheels selectively to translate the bands and bring different ones of the characters in alignment with one another to form a grouping extending across the bridge. The bridge serves as a backing plate for the grouping of characters when the numberer is being used.

The principal subject matter of both of the patents comprises structure to enable numberers mounted in rotary printing wheels or other rotary devices to print uniformly and efficiently. If the bridge is generally aligned with a circumferential line of the rotary printing wheel in which it is installed so that the rotation of the wheel upon a surface moving relative thereto is intended to print a group of characters aligned in the direction of relative movement between the wheel and surface, then the bridge must be arcuate. The curvature of the arc should be quite closely the curvature determined by the radius from the axis of rotation to the printing surface. Actually, in large wheels this curvature can be approximate, but it can readily be seen that unless the bridge is curved about the axis of rotation of the wheel, the center characters of the group on the bridge will barely print, if at all, while the end characters will smear because of crushing of the type.

The curving of the bridge is relatively simple to accomplish, but unless the numberer is especially made for the purpose of installing the same in a rotary printing wheel, the mechanism for translation of the bands requires modification if one is desirous of using a commercially available numberer. The structure of U.S. Pat. No. 3,276,357 requires different diameter friction wheels which represents a complex and expensive rebuild of the numberer. The structure of U.S. Pat. No. 2,634,676 teaches the provision of enlarged holes in the center friction wheels to compensate for the curvature which applies to the bridge. Other expedients have included putting a curve in the shaft carrying the friction wheels. Thus, one purchases a conventional numberer on the open market, curves its bridge and friction wheel shaft or makes other modifications, removes the usual handle and installs same in the printing wheel. In most instances, the frame is replaced so that the sides and bottom end of the U are all the same size and can be clamped between the plates of a rotary printing wheel. The technique including bending the friction wheel shaft is not difficult or expensive, since the original rubber printing bands, friction wheels, bridge and friction wheel shaft can be used.

The invention herein is directed specifically to the solution of a problem which arises in the case of all numberers which are designed for use in rotary printing wheels, regardless of whether the numberer has been made specially'or had been modified from a conventional flat bridge numberer. The numberer which is illustrated and described in the specification is one of the latter type. i

The loops of any numberer defined by the adjacent rubber printing bands must be parallel so that they can be selectively translated when desired. Since the parts which are disposed on the bridge of the numberer lie on a circumferential line and are required to be firmly engaged thereon, the bands are under some tension. The bands thus tend to assume alignment with radii centered at the axis of curvature of the bridge. in effect, the rubber printing band ends on the bridge want to spread away from the'center between the ends of the bridge. Even though the bands are quite closely arranged edge to edge,'and even if confined at the ends of the bridge, there is a. tendency for the bands to crowd towards the ends of the bridge.

. One solution to this problem has been attempted in the prior art, this being the fabrication of a special arcuate bridge in which each printing band rides in a groove formed on the outwardly facing surface of the bridge, there being slight ridges formed to produce such grooves. Inasmuch as the act of printing compresses the rubber characters of the printing bands, the height of the ridges above the surface of the bridge must be limited in order to prevent the printing surface from striking the ridges. The result has been that the ridges somewhat deter the lateral crowding of the printing bands on the bridge but cannot prevent it. The bandseventually slip over the ridges and require replacement of the numberers or readjustment thereof.

The solution which is taught by the invention herein recognizes the fact that the rubber printing bands need confinement'along the lateral sides of the bridge as well as on their outwardly facing surfaces and the invention proposes a novel, simple and yet highly effective expedient for accomplishing the confinement of the rubber printing bands as they pass over'the bridge. The invention is applicable primarily to the modification of a conventional numberer which can be purchased on the market and economically modified, but is not necessarily limited to this.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A numberer for use with a rotary printing wheel in which the numberer is installed in the wheel with a plurality of elastomeric printing characters arranged on an arcuate line grouped together to lay down a line of printed characters extending in the direction of relative movement between a planar printing surface and the periphery of the printing wheel.

The numberer comprises a U-shaped frame having an arcuate bridge closing the legs of the U, a plurality of friction wheels mounted for rotation on axis means generally spaced radially inward of the arc of the bridge, a plurality of looped bands carrying elastomeric printing characters, each looped band being engaged over the bridge and on one of the friction wheels, means for selectively moving the friction wheels manually to bring different characters into a grouped alignment along the length of the bridge on the outer surface thereof and means to confine the positions of the respective bands on the bridge comprising guide plates including portions extending laterally of the bridge to confine the bands while approaching and leaving the bridge.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a printing wheel embodying the invention in a representative package marking installation;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken through one of the numberers of the wheel of FIG. 1 to show the structural details thereof;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken generally along the line 33 of FIG. 2 and in the indicated direction; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded fragmentary perspective view showing how the bridge and guide plates are assembled.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As indicated above, the invention is concerned primarily with means to confine and guide the movement of the printing bands of a numberer of the kind which is to be installed in a rotary printing wheel. Printing wheels are used in industry today to code date and/or print information on packages moving along a line and the invention is directed to the type of printing wheel in which it is necessary to change the printed information frequently. In such apparatus, the rotary printing wheel carries so-called numberers which have groups of bands of elastomeric characters upon friction wheels, the friction wheels being manipulable to change the characters by rotating the bands, but without disassembling the apparatus.

Prior to entering upon the details of the preferred embodiment, several aspects of the apparatus should be discussed in order not to confine the scope of the invention severely on account of the description. Use of the expression rotary printing wheel" is intended to include any rotary member which has a printing device associated therewith intended to imprint a group of characters on a planar printing surface which moves relative to the rotary member as the member rotates, in which the printing device has a plurality of characters thereon arranged in an arcuate configuration whose curvature follows fairly closely the circomference of the rotary member so that the printing occurs with substantially uniform pressure on the printing surface. The rotary printing wheel need not be circular but could be polygonal, semicircular, etc. It could even consist of an elongate rod carrying the printing device (numberer) on its end with nothing at the opposite end, so long as it rotates.

The expression planar printing surface" is intended to comprise any surface which can be brought into engagement with the group of characters of the numberer in seriatim order so that a line of printed numbers or letters is laid down. It could be the flat plane of a carton or box, the concave curved bottom of a canister or the convex exterior of a bottle or bucket. The relative curvatures of the printing surface and line of printing band characters is required to be such that the characters of the numberer are arranged in a convex curvature.

The looped printing bands and characters are referred to as elastomeric or rubberlike. They are normally made of an impregnated fabric base with the characters vulcanized thereon. The impregnation material and the characters are of natural rubber, synthetic rubber or mixtures. All are intended to be within the scope of the invention by reference to elastomeric.

Finally, the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is fairly simple, consisting of a rotary printing wheel and inking device but this is not intended to limit the applicability of the invention. The numberer of the invention may be used in automatic marking equipment with sophisticated inking, timing, adjusting and mounting apparatus.

Referring now to the drawing, the printing wheel embodying the invention is designated generally by the reference character 20 in FIG. 1. The printing wheel is illustrated operatively installed for marking the printing surface 21 of each one of a line of packages 22 moving continuously past the wheel on a conveyor designated generally 24. Also shown in FIG. 1 is a printing assembly mounted on the conveyor 24 and this assembly may include a C-clamp 26 of a conventional structure, a bracket 28 attached to the clamp 26 and extending upwardly above the conveyor. A frame 30 is attached to the bracket which may be rotatable on the bracket 28 a limited amount to press the printing wheel 20 against the surfaces 21.

The frame 30 consists of two identical plates such as the plate 32 seen in FIG. 1, the plates 32 being held together in a spaced apart assembly. The inking wheel 34 is rotatable on shaft 36 joumalled at opposite ends thereof in the upper slots 37 opening to the perimeters of the plates 32. The printing wheel 20 is freely rotatable on a shaft 38, the opposite ends of which are secured in the lower slots 39. As is well understood, the wheels 20 and 34 are adjustable in their position, one relative to the other by adjusting the relative positions of shafts in the slots 37 and 39 respectively.

With the exception of the printing wheel 20 which will be described in detail hereinafter, the component parts of the carton marking system generally described are conventional and in this respect, recourse may be had to US. Pat. Nos. 2,634,676 and 3,276,357 for a more detailed discussion of the general system.

The printing wheel 20 is intended to carry a plurality of numberers of identical construction so that for purposes of this disclosure, the numberer representative of the invention is designated generally 40. The wheel 20 is formed by a pair of identical circular plates or discs 42 retained in spaced apart assembly by suitable spacers, such as 44, and the shaft 38 mounting said plates. The perimeters 45 of the plates 42 are knurled or milled for obtaining a better purchase on a package 22 as the wheel 20 rolls over the same in normal operation of the marking system. The plates 42 have a pair of aligned rectangular openings, such as 46, in association with which there is mounted a numberer 40 between the plates 42. Understandably, there will be a pair of aligned openings 46 for each numberer 40 carried by the printing wheel 20. The pair of aligned openings 46 is spaced inwardly of the knurled edges 45.

Each numberer 40 has a substantially U-shaped frame 48 providing a pair of parallel legs 49 connected by a base or web 50. The numberer 40 is mounted between the plates 42 so that the frame 48 borders three sides of a rectangular opening 46 and the numberer printing characters face in a radially outward direction with the width of the frame legs 49 between the facing circumferential surfaces of the plates 42. A curved bridge member 52 is mounted across the free ends of the legs 49. In this particular numberer 40, the bridge 52 originally is a straight solid bar of aluminum and is easily curved to the configuration shown. The legs 49 are generally rectangular to fit between the plates 42 and serve as structural members spacing the plates 42 apart. The radially inner surface of the bridge 52 at the ends thereof is provided with a milled slot 53 and the free ends 54 of the legs 49 are respectively engaged in these slots 53. This arrangement fixes the configuration of the frame 48 as generally rectangular, but with the bridge 52 arcuate and following generally the curvature of the knurled peripheral rims 45 of the plates 42.

The frame 48 mounts a plurality of friction wheels and printing bands secured in loops between the said friction wheels and the arcuate bridge 52 as understood from the function of the numberer 40. Mounted between the legs 49 is a shaft 56, the shaft being arcuate as shown and passing through the bearing openings 59 and 60. The bearing opening 60 is internally tapered 20. It should be understood that the invention is not limited to the type of apparatus in which the printing wheel is idling and depends upon the movement of the packages 22 for its rotation but likewise extends to a structure in which both the line of packages and the wheel are driven in synchronism. Reference to relative movement between the printing wheel and the printing surface is intended to include both types of structures.

The curvature of the bridge 52 right and left as viewed in FIG. 2 generally follows the curvature of the peripheral edge 45 of the discs 42 so that the imprint of the characters upon the printing surface 21 will be made with substantially uniform pressure and in a line which extends in the direction of relative movement between the surface 21 and the printing wheel 20. As will be seen from a study of the structure shown, notwithstanding the curvature of the shaft 56 so that the loops of the bands '70 to 75 are offset one from the other, the bands 70, 71 and 72 will tend to be pulled to the left along the bridge 52 while the bands 73, 74, and 75 will tend to be pulled to the right. Each band is under some tension, and hence there will be an uneven flatly to provide a relatively sharp internal annular,

edge, and the end 58 of the shaft 56 is grooved as shown to enable the shaft 56 to lock in place. The band tension keeps the shaft 56 snugly engaged in its position as'shown in FIG. 2. The shaft 56 is readily removable from the position between the legs 49 and likewise is easily installed therein.

The shaft 56 carries the friction wheels 61 and 62 mounted thereon, the friction wheels all having center bearing openings 64 for engagement with the shaft 56. The friction wheels have knurled or scalloped edge protruding integral flanges 65 and 66 respectively. These flanges 65 and 66 are large enough to protrude beyond the plates 42 when the numberer 40 is mounted so that the operator can easily manipulate the same from the exterior of the rotary printing wheel 20 without disassembling any of the apparatus. There is a spacing washer 68 between the two groups of friction wheels 61 and 62. This is roughly of the same thickness as the flanges 65 and 66. The arrangement described is one of convenience with the flanges 66 on the righthand sides of the friction wheels62 and the flanges 65 on the left-hand sides of the friction wheels 61. All of the friction wheels in this embodiment are identical but the two groups merely face in opposite directions.

Elastomeric printing bands 70, 71, 72, 73, 74 and 75 are carried by the respective friction wheels, each band being formed in an endless loop and extending around a friction wheel and the bridge 52. The cylindrical drum portions of the wheels 61 and 62 may have their surfaces roughened or knurled as shown at 69 to prevent slippage of the bands thereon. The bands all carry elastorneric type or indicia 76 for printing characters such as numbers, letters, symbols or combinations thereof.

As noted from FIG. 3, the type 76 disposed along the increment of lateral force on the portion of each band overlying the bridge tending to move the band in a direction to bring it into alignment with a radial line passing through the axis of curvature of the bridge 52.

Accordingly, means are provided to align and guide the movement of the bands to to prevent their lateral shifting along the length of the bridge 52.

A plurality of plates 60, 81, 82, 83, 54, 25, and 56 generally rectangular in configuration is provided, each plate being secured at the interior concave face of the bridge 52. The plates 60 and 86 are disposed in surface to surface engagement with the interior faces of the legs 49, and the others are spaced along the length of the bridge 52 to provide confining guideways keeping the bands 79 to 75 evenly spaced along the length of the bridge 52. The width of the plates is substantially the same as the width of the legs 49 and quite substantially greater than the width of the bridge 52 so that as the bands move to the bridge each of them is located between a pair of plates. The plates are attached to the bridge in such a manner that they protrude above (radially outwardly) the outer surface of the bridge 52 by a small amount, albeit less than the thickness of each band and its type 76. The elastomeric bands are thus confined and guided, especially laterally of the bridge 52 and cannot slip off towards the ends of the bridge 52.

There may be several ways of securing the plates to the bridge 52, but a simple one is illustrated in the drawing and considers that the bridge 52 and the numberer 40 itself have been purchased on the market and are to be modified.

In FIG. 4 there is illustrated a fragment of a bridge 52 which is modified in accordance with the invention.

The upper (radially outwardly facing) face 96 of the bridge 52 is curved as previously explained in a convex curvature, and the side edges 92 are originally rounded to enable readily slipping of the bands transversely over the bridge 52. A plurality of grooves 94 is cut through the bridge on its edges 92. The plates such as, for example, 52 and 55 are provided with rectangular notches 96, respectively, in their edges which extend radially outwardly of the numberer 40 when the plates are installed. The plates are fitted onto the bridge 52 from the inside, that is, the concave face thereof. In FIG. 4,

the plate 82 is shown in place, while the plate 83 is disposed ready to be pushed upwardly so that the sides of the notch 96 engage in a pair of opposed grooves 94. Each plate has a central passageway 100 and an arcuate tie rod 102 engages through all of these passageways and through suitable holes 104 in the legs 49. The ends of the tie rod 102 are threaded at 105 and nuts 108 inside and outside of the frame 48 secure the tie rod 102 and hence all of the plates 80 to 86 in place. In this condition, it will be seen that the edges 98 protrude slightly outwardly of the outer face of the bridge 52 to guide the bands 70 to 75 while located on or passing over the bridge 52, but that more importantly, the areas of the plates 80 to 86 which are designated 106 in FIGS. 3 and 4 positively confine and guide the bands while moving up to and away from the bridge 52 so that there is no chance of lateral shifting of the bands on the bridge 52. Plates each constructed with one such area 106 or alternately having such areas would operate to perform the desired function, but areas 106 on both sides of notch 96 are preferred.

The construction of the numberer of the invention is capable of a wide latitude of variations, whether made specifically as a numberer for use with a rotary printing wheel or made by modifying a conventional numberer originally intended for imprinting in a motion normal to the printing surface. In either case, a minimum degree of precision is required during construction so that shafts, tie rods and holes may be sloppy. As a matter of fact, such oversize connections, besides being economical, prevent binding and allow for shifting of parts to accommodate for nonuniformities in printing surfaces, printing wheel dimensions and the like. The holes 64 are preferably substantially larger than the diameter of the shaft 56 to enable the offset positions of the friction wheels with respect to one another while allowing them freely to rotate. The grooves 94 may be cut prior to the bending of the bridge 52 so that they fan slightly afterwards. The width of grooves 94 may beslightly greater than the thickness of plates 80 to 86 to allow for the fanning, or the outer ends of the individual plates may be slightly bent to provide good fit and proper accommodation in the grooves.

What it is desired to secure by Letters Patent of the v United States is:

1. A numberer which is adapted to be mounted on a rotary printing wheel and which has printing type protruding beyond the perimeter of the wheel for printing on a printing surface as the printing surface and rotary printing wheel move relative to one another, the type adapted to print a line of characters which is in the direction of said relative movement, said numberer com- 8 prising:

A. a frame adapted to be carried by said printing wheel of generally U-shaped configuration and having a linearly extending base and parallel legs, an arcuate bridge member connected across the ends of the legs and closing the frame, said arcuate member being convexly curved outwardly of the frame and positioned proximate to the periphery of said printing wheel in which said numberer is carried,

B. a shaft carried by said frame, a plurality of friction wheels mounted for rotation on said shaft, each including a cylindrical drum portion having its peripheral surface parallel to said base and nonparallel to said bridge, said shaft generally spaced inwardly of and complementary to the arc of said bridge, a looped band carrying elastomeric printing type, said looped band being entrained over a portion of the outer arcuate surface of the bridge under tension and around said drum portion of one of said friction wheels in such a manner that one edge of said band is under greater tension than the opposite edge, means for selectively positioning selected characters of said printing type into a predetermined position on the outer surface of said bridge, and

C. guide means connected with said bridge and extending laterally and radially outwardly thereof to confine said band to a preselected portion of said bridge.

2. The numberer as claimed in claim 1 in which the guide means extend laterally in both directions.

3. The numberer as claimed in claim 1 in which said guide means comprise guide plates disposed transversely of the bridge and lying in parallel planes.

4. The numberer as claimed in claim 2 in which said guide means comprise guide plates disposed transversely of the bridge and lying in parallel planes.

5. The numberer as claimed in claim 3 in which said guide plates and bridge have respective notch and slot engaging means for locating the same with respect to one another.

6. The numberer as claimed in claim 5 in which there is a tying member extending between the legs of the frame spaced from said bridge and each guide plate is mounted to said tying member.

7. The numberer as claimed in claim 6 in which the guide plates are substantially identical in configuration and the tying member is arcuate generally parallel with the arc of said bridge. 

1. A numberer which is adapted to be mounted on a rotary printing wheel and which has printing type protruding beyond the perimeter of the wheel for printing on a printing surface as the printing surface and rotary printing wheel move relative to one another, the type adapted to print a line of characters which is in the direction of said relative movement, said numberer comprising: A. a frame adapted to be carried by said printing wheel of generally U-shaped configuration and having a linearly extending base and parallel legs, an arcuate bridge member connected across the ends of the legs and closing the frame, said arcuate member being convexly curved outwardly of the frame and positioned proximate to the periphery of said printing wheel in which said numberer is carried, B. a shaft carried by said frame, a plurality of friction wheels mounted for rotation on said shaft, each including a cylindrical drum portion having its peripheral surface parallel to said base and nonparallel to said bridge, said shaft generally spaced inwardly of and complementary to the arc of said bridge, a looped band carrying elastomeric printing type, said looped band being entrained over a portion of the outer arcuate surface of the bridge under tension and around said drum portion of one of said friction wheels in such a manner that one edge of said band is under greater tension than the opposite edge, means for selectively positioning selected characters of said printing type into a predetermined position on the outer surface of said bridge, and C. guide means connected with said bridge and extending laterally and radially outwardly thereof to confine said band to a preselected portion of said bridge.
 2. The numberer as claimed in claim 1 in which the guide means extend laterally in both directions.
 3. The numberer as claimed in claim 1 in which said guide means comprise guide plates disposed transversely of the bridge and lying in parallel planes.
 4. The numberer as claimed in claim 2 in which said guide means comprise guide plates disposed transversely of the bridge and lying in parallel planes.
 5. The numberer as claimed in claim 3 in which said guide plates and bridge have respective notch and slot engaging means for locating the same with respect to one another.
 6. The numberer as claimed in claim 5 in which there is a tying member extending between the legs of the frame spaced from said bridge and each guide plate is mounted to said tying member.
 7. The numberer as claimed in claim 6 in which the guide plates are substantially identical in configuration and the tying member is arcuate generally parallel with the arc of said bridge. 